Aries, the god of wealth, was a very famous Zodiac. Of course, all of the twelve Zodiacs were famous, and it probably had to do with the fact that they possessed high-rank temples.

[Aries has numerous resources.]

[Aries is considered one of the top five richest gods in the Divine world.]

Aries sold holy items and rented out storage spaces. It also rented out enslaved Constructs and disciples. All gods had to go through the Aries temple at some point.

In the divine world, it was called the Death Merchant. Wherever there was a war, the Aries temple would be there. Its involvement inevitably led to the death of many gods. However, that wasn’t the real reason for the notoriety of the Aries temple.

[That crazy bastard. It finally sold a general-rank god of a temple as a slave!]

One of Aries’s powers was called “Winning Bid.” The skill judged the souls of the Zodiac’s opponents and assigned them a price.

This made the soul quantifiable, and if Aries paid the right price, it could forcefully buy its opponent. The only problem was that the condition needed to activate it was troublesome and that the risk was high.

However, Aries could turn anyone into a slave by paying the price. This had allowed the Aries temple to set up a business where Constructs were rented and sold.

[Crazy! A master of a large army was sold!]

[The master of Blood and Iron was sold!]

[As expected of the major market player among the twelve Zodiacs!]

Some of the gods in the divine world were beings no one dared approach. They were the best of the best, called the Great Spirits. They were called the emperors among anybody who was an anybody amongst the gods. No one could do anything to them.

However, at the time, Aries had commodified and enslaved the owner that possessed an army that ranked second.

After enslaving the god, Aries had sold it to the god with the first-ranked army for a huge price. Of course, the master of Blood and Iron had tried to resist after becoming a slave, but that had been useless.

[Bastard! Do you think you’ll be fine after doing something like this?]

[Haha! This is the result of you looking down on one of the twelve Zodiacs as a large owner.]

[You guys are only special because you hold the power of the Seats of power!]

That had been the end of Blood and Iron.

After this incident, all the gods avoided Aries. Faced with its wealth, they didn’t want to become Aries’s slaves. And since such a thing happened, Aries had understandably become proud.

The Serpent Bearer was strong, but Aries was a merchant that had enslaved even the master of Blood and Iron, the second strongest army within the universe.

‘A newly awakened low-rank god is nothing to me.’

It didn’t matter who they were. The skill would give a rough estimate.

‘I’m overflowing with money that I can deposit.’

It was supposed to be like that.

[Kuhk]

However, when Aries saw the number that rose above Lee Gun, it almost forgot to breathe.

To use the Winning Bid skill on Lee Gun, Aries had employed a skill that put a price on Lee Gun. However, the number that came up was a bit odd.

[Worth: 66.6 billion (Talent)]

‘What the hell is this number?’

It was 66.6 billion?

Talent (currency or opportunity) was the divine money issued by the gods of the universe. Since it was divine money, it didn’t just function as currency. If one possessed Talents, one could create something special using the rule of equivalent exchange. It could also be used to borrow the power of the universe.

Basically, Talent was the capital strength of the gods, and they could do nothing if they possessed zero Talents. If one made a comparison to vehicles, zero Talents would be like a car that ran out of oil.

Whenever Aries used Winning Bid on a normal low-rank god, the average price would come out to be a hundred million Talents. A middle-rank god was around a billion. A high-rank god was around ten billion. Yet Lee Gun’s worth was 66.6 billion Talents?

‘The most expensive one was forty-billion. What the hell is this?’

That amount had been for the bastard with the second-ranked army who Aries had to use all its wealth to purchase.

This shocked the Zodiac. Currently, its entire net worth was exactly 66.6 billion Talents.

‘The price of a god is arbitrary, but this is too much.’

Basically, Aries would be emptying the entirety of its wealth to put in a winning bid. A slight mistake could send it into negative Talent territory.

‘That’ll be a problem.’

All gods received one Talent when they were born. Even the lowliest of the gods received this opportunity.

A newly born god could use the single Talent to grow its power or buy an underling. Or it could buy something that would enhance its worth. With this as a starting point, the god could slowly raise its divine status.

Zero talent was the minimum. If a god went into the negative territory, it would lose its “opportunity” as a god. It would be demoted and would get enslaved. That was the rule.

This was why Lee Gun’s worth shocked Aries even more.

‘Since he has the power of a high-rank god, I thought his worth would be around ten billion.’

At most, Aries had expected around thirty billion. However, its shock lasted only a moment.

‘I guess it can happen.’

Aries knew Lee Gun wasn’t normal.

‘Still, 66.6 billion is doable.’

Of course, that was the entire net worth of the Aries temple, so Aries would be cutting it close. However, it should be fine.

‘I’ll sell all the slaves and gather the distributed Talents. Then, I’ll have around 66.7 billion.’

This would allow Aries to avoid bankruptcy. After putting in the winning bid, it wouldn’t be able to do anything for a while. However, once it brought Lee Gun in as a slave, making money wouldn’t take long.

‘This might be the only opportunity I’ll have to capture him.’

Moreover, would Aries have the opportunity to capture someone of Lee Gun’s caliber again? Lee Gun had awakened not too long ago, and he had yet to get used to its power. This was a golden opportunity.

[Will you proceed with putting in the winning bid using your power?]

Aries laughed when it heard the voice. This voice came from the bank of the gods, belonging to the entity that printed the Talents.

The bank lent out Primordial power to the gods, and it was in charge of keeping track of the Talents.

Of course, the voice rang again when Aries showed signs of putting in the winning bid.

[Will you purchase your opponent?]

[If you proceed with the Winning Bid with a shortage of funds, it will interrupt your business. You will go into debt. Please check the status of your funds once again.]

[Once the Winning Bid proceeds, it cannot be canceled.]

[The amount you paid won’t be refunded.]

[Will you acquire your opponent as a slave?]

Aries laughed as it looked at Lee Gun. It was well aware of the risks. This was why it immediately used its ability toward the captured Lee Gun.

[Winning Bid!]

At the same time, a golden light appeared beneath Lee Gun.

[The Winning Bid will proceed.]

[The Winning Bid is 66.7 billion.]

Aries yelled out in joy.

[The Serpent Bearer is mine with this!]

At that moment, however...

“Hey.”

[!]

Aries flinched when it heard the low voice.

It was Lee Gun. Lee Gun’s voice was always low. However, killing intent was mixed in it now. It was much more terrifying. Moreover, Lee Gun wasn’t worried about the successful bid. He was glaring at the transparent cube in Aries’s hands.

“Where did you get that item?”

[!]

This cube had allowed Aries to keep Lee Gun in place. It was a small cube the size of a finger.

[The power of the Serpent Bearer’s original owner can be felt from it.]

For some unknown reason, it was giving off the power of a powerful god. And this was why Lee Gun was focused on the cube.

– You always have that. Is it something precious to you?

Yeonwoo, who had lived with him like a family member, always had it with her. Lee Gun had no idea why she treasured it so much. However, it was a handmade item with a unique color and unique symbols. There was no way he could mistake it.

Also, Lee Gun had failed to locate the item after Yeonwoo had died. Since she had it with her when she died, he had thought it was likely that a monster had swallowed it with her.

Therefore, Lee Gun’s eyes flashed. “Where did you pick that up?”

Aries laughed.

[Ah! This? You want to know about it?]

Aries looked at Lee Gun as if the man were pathetic.

[The owner of the item was the thirteenth that we had been looking for.]

“!”

[She was the thirteenth, yet she was a human. In the end, she got eaten by a monarch without being able to awaken.]

Lee Gun furrowed his brows.

Aries continued.

[Do not fret about it. You must be thinking that the woman died because of you, but she was fated to die anyway.]

Lee Gun laughed. “Is that so?”

[That’s right. It’s a shame that I couldn’t tell them to kill you when you were next to her, but don’t worry. You will be my slave now. I’ll be generous by making you into a lovely human doll—]

Something flew toward Aries.

[Kuhk!]

The Zodiac screamed. The item that had flown toward its face was the fragment of a chain!

[No... Wait a—]

Then, a surprising development took place.

Kwah-jeek!

Lee Gun instantly broke free of the chains binding him.

[?!]

This surprised Aries, as well as the Constructs of its temple. The flustered God of Wealth tried to quickly activate the cube.

Boom!!!

However, Lee Gun grew the size of Heaven’s Punishment and severed Aries’s arm. The arm fell alongside the cube!

Aries screamed.

[What the hell? Why isn’t the cube’s power working?]

This cube contained the power of the original owners of the Seats of power. The power of bondage had been taken out from each of their thrones.

Of course, the thirteenth wanted to use this cube for this life. It wanted to use the cube for the power of the Cycle. However, that wasn’t important right now.

‘It’s the power of bondage that brought down the original owners of the Seats of power. Not many can do much against it.’

That was why Aries had visited the Time monarch despite being on the run, all to receive the cube. Time had the keepsake of the thirteenth.

[Kuh-huhk!]

An immense amount of light swirled around Lee Gun. Lee Gun smirked as he raised Heaven’s Punishment. Blood gushed into the air as he cut off its left arm, making Aries scream.

[Bastard!]

However, its anger lasted only a moment.

[You’re too late! I’ve already put in a successful bid!]

“!”

[When you become my servant, I’ll show you what true hell is!]

Aries burst out laughing. The Winning Bid skill was already active.

[The Winning Bid is in process.]

[Your target will be changed into your slave.]

As if to prove this, a golden light emanated as ropes emerged from the ground beneath Lee Gun’s feet. This was the Primordial Power, called forth by the authority of the Winning Bid.

It was an enormous power called the mother of all gods.

Like how the disciples borrowed power from the Zodiacs, the Zodiacs sometimes needed to borrow power from a source far more powerful than them.

It was this power. And no god could break that power.

‘It has never happened before!’

Because of this power, the owner of a large army had become a slave, the owner of an army that was the size of the entire twelve Zodiac temples combined several times over.

Finally, the rope encircled Lee Gun’s lower body and neck.

The outer gods laughed at this sight.

[That’s always an unusual sight. I clearly remember the master of Blood and Iron crying out, saying it didn’t want to become a slave.]

[Yes. He will also—]

At that moment...

[Winning Bid failed.]

[?!]

The red rope encircling Lee Gun suddenly fell away. As if it were handling something precious, it returned Lee Gun’s disheveled hair and clothes to normal.

[How can this be!]

Aries screamed. However, it soon realized the reason behind this.

‘That’s...!’

The price hovering above Lee Gun’s body was changing.

[Worth: 66.9 billion (Talent)]

[Worth: 76.5 billion (Talent)]

[Worth: 80.0 billion (Talent)]

[Worth: 89.0 billion (Talent)]

Aries screamed.

[What the hell? The price keeps going up!]

This had never happened before. Moreover, Aries had never seen such figures before. The highest body price that it had seen before was around sixty billion!

Lee Gun’s body price continued to skyrocket.

[Worth 666.6 billion (Talent)]

[...?!!]

Aries screamed at the unimaginable price.

[666.6 billion! What the hell!]

Its scream caused a commotion amongst the Constructs and the outer gods.

[What? What is the price of his body?]

[What the hell did we just hear?]

Lee Gun didn’t care as his eyes met Aries.

Aries trembled.

‘C... Could it be?’

Although the price estimate had been measured after his awakening, Lee Gun had yet to use his power then!

However, for Aries, something was much scarier than this exploding price.

[Total Talent currently managed under the Aries temple is 66.9 billion.]

[You do not have the ability to pay the Winning Bid.]

[The Winning Bid is being processed.]

[Once the Winning Bid proceeds, it cannot be canceled.]

[The Talent of the Aries temple is –599.7 billion. You have taken it on as debt.]

[You’re bankrupt.]

[The failed bid has activated the risk.]

[W-Wait a moment?!!]

[You have forfeited your Divine status. According to the risk, you will be demoted to slave rank.]